Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Question for Mich. deer hunters in the shotgun part of the state.

My stepdaughter and her son are beginning deer hunters.. They seem to be doing fine.. She killed two last fall, but her son only was able to miss about three shots with either a muzzle loader or an open sight 20 ga. pump.. We are thinking of scoping the pump shotgun, but I seem to remember where that section of Mich. was trying out rifles chambered for straight walled pistol calibers.. My thought was rather than scope a shotgun, pick up something maybe a single shot rifle or lever that could be scoped.. Then I would be possible to reload ammo for my step grandson to pratice with.. Shotgun slugs are pretty expensive.. Is this rule still in effect, and does it look like it will remain in force??? Thanks for the help!! Any suggestions for a single shot rifle??

It's not a trial run, it's a permanent regulation change. The regulation states:
“A .35 caliber or larger rifle loaded with straight-walled cartridges with a minimum case length of 1.16 inches and a maximum case length of 1.80 inches.”

A local shop sells a ton of T/C Encore Katahdins in .460 S&W, which is about the highest preforming cartridge that fits those dimensions. The .460 has the advantage of being able to chamber the .45 Colt for a light recoiling round and the .454 Casull for an inbetweener. If you reload that doesn't much matter though. Of course other cartridges from .357 to .500 fit the bill too. The Ruger .44 carbines are popular also.

tmitch, many thanks.. I can move ahead on this info..

If reloading, you could look at the .357 maximum as well.

Currently, I use a 450 bushmaster in an AR platform, but if I were to go to a single shot, it would be the 357 maximum.

Agreed with the above. I picked up a custom 450 Bushmaster on a Savage action and it bugholes and doesn't recoil too much either. And, loading for it is easy too. But, I am actually putting it up for sale if that holds any interest to you. I am investing in a longer range muzzleloader setup instead, that can cover multiple states for deer.

That said, a single shot 357 mag or max or 44mag would be a great way to go.

A lot of guys are going with the various lever actions. I used a rossi 92 in .45 lc with 300 grain xtps going 1500 fps this late season and I can tell you those are great little guns that absolutly smack deer.
Loaded with standard .45 LC or handloaded to mid range these guns are perfect for short range and kids. Handloaded up they are sweet for adults. I am sure the various marlins in 45 or 44 mag would be no different. The only draw back on the rossi's is that they are harder to mount a scope (i.e. need a side mount or scout scope arrangement).

Also the tauras/rossi single shots in 44 mag are quite econmincal and are popular around my area of Michigan (west slug zone).

.444 Marlin is your huckleberry

The .444 is too long to meet the legal case length restriction of 1.80".

For beginning hunters I think something like a Ruger 77/.357 would be perfect. Cheap .38 practice ammo, accurate, light, easily scoped and plenty powerful for deer with .357's.

Newbies might not enjoy shooting a .460 all that much.

Agreed, the .444 Marlin, or 45-70 would be better, however, Michigan in their infinite wisdom only allow a max case length of 1.8", straight wall case, in the southern slug zone.

I'd roll Savage 220 20ga in that case